Apparatus for transporting cementitious materials



Jan. 19, 1932. o. T. GRAHAM ET AL APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 21, 1929 Jan. 19 1932. O GRAHAM T AL 1,841,436

APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS Filed Feb. 21, 1929 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 19, 19324 0. T. GRAHAM ET AL I APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 21, 1929 Jan. 19, 1932. o. T. GRAHAM ET AL 1,841,436

APPARATUS FDR TRANSPORTING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS Filed Feb. 21, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 gnvanloz Horne Patented Jan. 19, 193? own 'LfGRAnAM'ANDoAKLEY JQGRAHAMQOFa cii yroitn;WIRGINIA- r fAPPARATUs-EQR aimi rseoivnne cEm nTI'f-Ions 2 Application fi earbi ar 21,1929.

The present intention relates: to apparatus" for the transportation ofjceinentiti'ous mate rials, particularly wetcon'crete mixtures.

It is now becoming generally recognized that, in carrying on building operationsj'in cities or other localities in which 'thej useof considerable"quantities of concrete is con templated, isad antageQns to provideffa coneretemixing' plant at a centrally located point for mixing concrete under standard; conditions, and to'then' transferfthe mixed concrete to the point of ultimate use by means of vehicles, generally niotortr u cks of -the dump body type Mixi g of the'conc'rete' at' acen'tral plant haslniany known advantages," both from the economic 'standpoint'and from the point of View of thebiijjld'er and architect who desireconcrete of the highest q'i a lity and the lowest price, f l a I I Itis essential howeverto utilize, in fconnecfj" tion with a central mixing and 1 wet concrete distributing syster'n ofthis type, confveying apparatus in which; is incorporated means for agitating the concrete dnrin'gf its passage from the centl'al'mixing"plant to the particular point of use since, if no such means 1 is provided, the heavier elements of the con crete aggregate, i.' e., thestone.jahdthehea ieifl sand grains, will 'sett letoward the "loottom of 30 water will tend to move toward the top of the mixture, Various types: of vehicle bodies for preventinguthis segregation transit have heretofore been'designed o-r silg gest ed; but for one reason or anothe1-,;ha e;

not comeginto public favorf;

The present inven' Ybody be properly agitated and: we haveffol ind it quite necessary to proyide'a-n agitajting" I a.% tating. felementsj therefrom by members i the vehicle body and the li'g ht erlelenients i;e.; I I

the finer'sand grai1'1s,fthecement,iancljthe'- wall, may -be conveniently employed fa's; a

I agi t 'ngf l m n 'r my be-m n i d 1 P'Q 1& v a the extremities" of 'ifadially disposed farms.

tion" mayv-ibe modified to suit conditiorfis, V forbodies'of different shapesaiid dri e'ipeam;

penditu re little poweri is preferably taken from theiniotoriwhiich a propels the yehiclei"Itis essentialthatia,' i v bodyof wet concrete contained in a yehicle means; the stirring elements of which] de-;

scribe paths-which follow closelytheibottorni of theyehiclefso that this portionof -the'mix} ture Y contained in the: yehifcle' canihe l thoroughly agitated orraked.

In I accordance with the present inyeritio'n T the agitating elements move in this prescribed} V manner while at the s m time'proyision jis theagitatingelements ab'ovegthe' l'eyelofthe wet-concrete mixture and"; supporting the v ai stheyi e hfeils i ie l ixr ti'lrey offer; a minn innif surface v in ,t-he'idire'c a said mixture QiThe a-gitating' elements are; 1

hei ;presnessit wsh'thein x r H blocked or retardedf fby stones of-Flarge ;s1

'nor liyfstone's of smuisize winehzjimghtfbl i come caught'between" the agitating elements aiidlthe' wall offtheyeliicleIbody. .TVeprefer': ""ly awehicle; dythe inneriwal of cylindrical; -01 l at least, a formed as portionof asolid oii revolution, since with this for in'o f body a shaft noiinted .Qdaxially' with-trimmer surface'of the vehicle body I drive; means for the I agitating elements. j'l lhe" This'arrangement has been demonstrated "to," be, eminently satisfactory in practice, proyi'dfme: e i itat 'me s o gr atfe ncy t; I

min m W t't mea and to Op t but itlf'will f'neveiitheless be apparent to time; kil e t 3' fi13hatthe design-and a rraiine-f ment of the component elelnents oftheii Furthero t' l 'ects ofi theii entioii aifete pro l I;

flnade' for' keeping" the power consumption at y it aj minimumby placing the drive n eansifor" I mechanism whereby such mechanism can be conveniently driven from the internal combustion engine, or other motor which constitutes the power motor of the vehicle, and to effect certain improvements in the means for effecting the discharge of the cementitious material from the vehicle body.

shown in section to more clearly disclose theagitating means;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1, portion of the end of the body-bei'n g broken I away to disclose one of the; agitating eles;

. Figure? isa rear end view ofthe vehicle atflO-and the bodyat 11.; lhe details of.

body; v

. Figure i isa'sectionon line,4 4 of F 1gure3;f

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the agitating elements; V

,Figure 6 is a longitudinal section through atruck body equipped with an alternative form of agitating means;

. Figure 7 is a section on line 7'7 of Fig. 6;

and,

Figures 8 and 9 are enlarged views of details of this. alternative forrn'of agitating means.

.The vehicle chassis is indicated generally the chassis are not fully illustrated and need "not be herein specifically referred tofsince any suitable form of chassismay be em ployed. We contemplate the use, of aninter- ,n'al combustion engine as a power plant,

which engine is notillustrated, but it will be understood tobe of'usual type and to have a,

power take-01f shaft by means of which power may be taken for the purpose of. operating the agitating means. Mechanism is likewise 7 provided for raising the body 11 relatively to the chassis '10 for thepurpose of dumping the contents, but such mechanism forms no part of the present invention and neednot there fore be herein specifically described.

semi cylindrical bottom, or bottom 7 which comprises portion Of fijSOlld of revolution. The end walls 11" and .11 are fiat vertically disposed members extending transversely: or

the axis of the bot-toniand. the rear wall 11 is provided with a, discharge aperture;

throu h which the contained. cementitious material may be discharged when the body is tilted rearwardlyf This discharge aper ture is normally closed by a door-12 hingedly connected to the rear wall 11 by horizontally I disposedhinges 13. Normally thedoori12is, prevented from. swinging about the hinges 13 by means of wedges 14 of which theremay I be any; necessary number which wedges are,

The body 11 may convenientlyfabrij cated of sheet metal and is formedwith a opening being controlledby a vertically movable door or gate 18, the vertical edges of which are guided in slots formed by the margins of the end wall 12 of the body adjacent the'sid'esof aperture 17, the filler pieces 19 and the angle irons 20.. f

Secured'm the door 18, and adjacent the vertical edges thereof are parallel vertically disposed racksfll and meshing with'these racks respectively are pinions' 22 rigid with the transverse shaft 23 revolubly mounted in suitable bearings 24 and provided with an operating handle 25. By rotating shaft 23 by means of. the operating handle the gate 18 maybe raised or lowered. I

IDisposed longitudinally ,of body 11 is a power'shaft 30, the axis of which'is co-incident with the axis of curvature of the body and the ends of which 'are rotatably supported v1n end bearings 31 secured to the end wallsof thebody and center bearing 32 which is supported by a transverse bridging member orbrace 33'hav1ng its ends rigidly secured to the side walls of the body. The forward end of shaft projects through the forward wall 11 .01% the. body and into a gear casing 34 bolted to the body, this shaft end having rigidly mounted thereon a bevel gear which meshes. with a second bevel gear 36 likewise 'fcontained within the casing 34, whichfgear isoperatively connected to the power motor of the vehicle by means which will hereinafter be more fully described. Agitating elements areindicated generally at 40, there being four of these for the type and sizeof body shown in the drawings but the number of which may be varied at will to suit conditions. Each such agitating element includesa member 41 which may conveniently be an angle iron as'shown in Fig ure 5, disposed longitudinally ofthe body and parallel tothe shaft 30, and plurality of radially disposed agitating blades42 ad ustably secured thereto. Each such agitating blade comprises a flat base p'orti0n4l2 provided with a central longitudinal: slot 42 through which securing bolts lg may be passed; These securing bolts also pass through circular holes in the supporting, member 41 and it follows that the blades 42iniay be adjusted in the direction of their lengths through limited distances, that is, they may be adjusted radially of-shaft 30.

"naugaafl The portions of the agitating blades @12 which project outwardly frominembers 41 are of reduced cross sectional area and are pointed at their ends as1-shcwn.=/lhey (are furthermom :so formed as to present-cutting edges 42 in the'directlon of their movement. Con

veniently the agitating blades are formed 9 of flat malleable metal and the. projecting portions are twisted-relatively to the base portions 42 so as to present corners int-he directions of movement, which corners con stltute the cutting edges heretofore referred to.- The outer pointed ends of the agitating,

cqui-distant therefrom, the points: of the" b ades very closely approaching the body,

' yet not touching at any point.

Members 41 are secured to the outer ends of radial arms 50, the inner ends of which two sections, a section; 50' rigid with shaft and a section '50 rigid with member 41. The

- sections are secured together-by bolts 51 pass v ing through register-mg apertures in the two sections, the: ape-rte res of one section consti tilting cylindrical holes, and the other sec tion elongated slots, so that the members 41- may be bodily Listed radially of 1 shaft- 30. The radial arms of rectangular cross section and are disposed so as toot-fora minimum surface to cont-act witlrthe-qcemelrti- 1 tious naterialcontained :in the body lljwihen' shaft 30 is rotated.

The four agitating elements which are arranged 90 apart,successively pass through the material cohtaineddai the b0C1y.fiThEl" agitating;- bla des A12 thoroughly 5 rake that portion of the material which is located, next adjacent the wallof the -body and-prevent the accumulation of heavy materials 7 along the bottom. The blades are so spacedapart J that the largest stones "used ininixing the concerts may pass freely therehetween so that they are kept clcar at alltime'sm lnas much they are pointed at their outerend s it is impossible forstonesito lie-come'we'dged between the ends of the blades andthe wall of body 11. If "for any mscncnemmore of the blades become'hent it' will beobvions that the distancebetweenlthe point of the blade and the wall of, body llmdll-he'lim creased, because of the original radial dispe sition of the blades, sothat it will, not be, possible for any-blade to come incontact with the wall through bending;

As the blades wear. they maybe ontwarclly" ad3' listed either l-ndlVld-Ufllly 01 111 groupso f1 four.- The' radial arms 5Q which} support the;

agitating-elements are j opposed jby the 'n' -ate-i other-a H 7 cross .mcmbers are arranged so as to present;-'.

i's'expended in agitating cementitiou's' material which. lies closeto the curved bot-' ton of the body, which: portion requires the 7' greatest amount ofagitation; since the heavy pairticlcsofth e mixture tend to immediately deposit themselvesthere. '5 V I V vffhebevel gpacs35, and 36 withii1 casing 3% transfer motion to' the horizontal shaft 30 I 7 i from theverti'cally disposed power shaft 55.: The ends "of this power shaft. are rotat ablysnpported in" bearings '56 and 57. The

lower'endof shaft: "55 ;is provided with *a clutch block '58 forming one portioneof :a sep' o arable coupling indicated generallyat some 1 V intermediate-thefendsof the shaft are provided .aifra-ngible connection 55 and a uni- J versal connection G'OWhich need not be here a V in described indetail as they are fullydi'sclosed. our: co-pending application 25?,92-5filed Feh1'i1a1y"29, 1928.-

p I A clutch block '61 mounted upon the chassis are-fixed on shaft 30; v These radial armsare adjustable in length, each being formed in cooperates with clutch block 58 on the ends of shnftooand by means of this separable connection whicliis ialso 'fully*discio'se'd in our f cdpendin g: application above referredto, it

When'the trn'cli body isloweredj A reduction gearing-is diagrammatically illustrated at 62,"

beanggr' gidly mounted upon-the chassis. One;

Sfer.

element of thisj gearing is connected to clutch i i block and :anot heiito aispno'cket 63 connected-' bya chain tfi l'toasecond sprocket 65 mounted ;upon*t1ie ;end of shaft 66. Shaft i Q 66 is -'connected,thnoi igh an'niversal joint 67,

and clutcii 68, to theipo'ij er takeofiiof the en ginef (not illustrated) The clutch ""68 is operahl'e by fmeans of 'handf'l'exer com -m ien-t'ly positioned relatively to the drivers seat -so that the agitating mechanism maybe readilyibrorrg'ht into operation or disconn-ected from the engine; This power" con nection betweenfthe shaf-tfifiand the engineis substantially the same as 'disclosedin our. co-pending application previously referi'ed e. to,- witli the exception however that the speed rednct ion geaning is located wholly upon the chassis, 'instead'iof Upon "the vehicle body. It

is not necessaifiytherefore to elevatea rela-I 1 Fip lie e; T,

ti rely: heavy speed rednctionzge'arin d p g the thick; I

H 48 and.9--H-I.SO111QW11313'(iii of ,agitati mechanism is i ls trat'ed. -H'ero th'e m-ain'=;shafthas three thei'r edges to the concreteaggregate as the shaft 80 revolves inthe direction of the arrow, Figure 7. Securedto each such .cross member, as by welding, is a series ofshort angle members 83, these angle members being equidistantly spaced. along the several cross members, and also being so arranged that 7 radial lines passing through the angle men associatedcross member.

here of one cross member will also pass through the angle members mounted on the Each pair of angle members, considering them tobe grouped along radial lines, supports an agitating blade 84, the blades being slotted andthe angle members being provided with circular'holes through which bolts 85 extend, the blades being thereby adjustably secured to the cross members. Theblades are formed'substantially in the same manner as the blades employeo. in connection withthe first described form of agitating mechanism and need not be soecifically described. V

As an-added safeguard against breakage of the driving mechanism in the'event, how ever remote, thatone of thejteeth-shouldbe caught, the bolts85 which secure the inner ends of theteeth respectively, to the associated angle members, are made only sufficiently a result its breakage'will'immediately follow that of the corresponding inner bolt, and as a result the obstructed tooth will entirely break oif of the frame to which it is-attached should its pr JESS be seriously impeded. Replacement of a tooth so dislodged may obviously be easily accomplished. 7

The'operation of this form of agitator is very similar to that of the form first described. The shaft 80 rotates in the direction of thearrow and the three agitating frames nasssucc ssi v-ely through the ag regate. The

a 7 3h strata ofconcrete next to the wall of the body 18 thoroughly agitatedand with a minimum c:-;pen-rliture ofpower due to the fact that the surface whichl'each agitating element presents to the concrete, in the direction of its movement, is not great. The teeth are so spaced apart-thateven the largest stones which may be expected to be found in the concretewill not lodge between thenn In the operation of both thisform of age.

tati-ng' mechanism and. that first described it found that the successive passage of the agi tating' elements through the wet aggregate H results in asur-Q'ing movenientof the concrete lon itudinally of the body to a limited fing bolt is likewise. designed. to break underunusual load or distortionv and as extent. Thus the agitating mechanism exerts a kind of kneading action on the wet aggregate which is highly beneficial in promoting it complete admixture. When an ag itating element descends upon passing into the concrete it forces some of the mixture ahead of itin its passage and leaves a depression behind. The'concrete ahead of the element flows, to a limited extent, toward the ends of such element. In rear of the element the concrete flows, to a limited extent in wardly toward the center of the path de scribed by the said element. This surging movement, or'kneading, of the wet aggregate improves its quality, as does the straight mechanicalstirring or agitation to which the aggregateis subjected.

It is of course contemplated that truck bodies of various capacities may be equipped with agitating means and other devices embodying the principles of this invention which may necessitate changes in the design and arrangement of'its component parts. Furthermore the specific shape of the body may be changed as desired. Also the structure ofthe agitating elements may be changed slightly where it is desired to agitate concrete mixtures which depart from the ordinary standard mixtures for which the agitating mechanism illustrated was particularly designed; The invention is not limited'therefore to the exact mechanism described'and i1 lustrated by way of example.

' Havmg thus descrlbed the mvention, what 7 is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: V I

l. In vehicle for transportingcementitiousmaterials comprising a chassis having a motor, a body having agitating means therein, a-powerline connecting said motor and agitating means-whereby the power of the motor may be utilized in operating said agitating means, said power line including a separable coupling, whereby the body may be raised relatively to the chassis in dumping, and reduction gearing, the said reduction gearing being positioned wholly upon the chassis. I

2. The combination with a vehicle body designed and constructedfor thetransportation of cementitious materials, the bottom of which has the shape of a portion of a solid of revolution, and means for agitating thatportion of the cementitious material carried in said body which lies adjacent the bottom thereof, said means including a sha .t rotat-' ably supported in said body and disposed Wlth its axis co-incident with the axis of the curvedportion ofthe bottom of the body, a plurality of axially spaced radially disposer and relatively short agitating blades remote from said shaft,'a plurality of frames to which-said blades are secured ingrouns. andmeans supporting the framesfrom said shaft.

the means securing each tooth to its {associated frame being frangible, wherbythe tooth may be detached when it meets with ex'cessive resistance. i

3. The combination with a vehicle body de- 1 signed and constructed for the transportation 1 of cementitious materials, the 1 bottom of which has the shape of a portion of a' solid of revolution, and means for agitatingthat portion of the cementitious material carried in said body which lies adjacent the bottom 1 e thereof, said means including a shaft rotatably supported in said :body anddisposed with its axis co-incident with the axis ofthe curved portion of the bottom of the body, a

7 vehicle bottom along circular paths close to r plurality of axially spaced radially disposed and relatively short agitating blades remote from said shaft, a plurality of frames to which said blades are'secured in groups, and means supporting the frames fromsaid shaft,

each frame comprising two spacedparal'lel j cross members, and each tooth being adjustably secured to two of said members.

4. The combination with a vehicle bodydesigned and constructedfor' the transportation of cementitious materials, the bottom of which has the shape of a portion of a solid of revolution, of means for agitating the material carried therein comprising ,blades adapted to be moved transversely of the vehicl bottom below the normal level ofthe material therein, and means for supporting and moving said elements transversely'ofthe and concentric with the bottom, said means comprising a shaft revolubly mounted in the l body and having its axis coincident with. the axis of the body, arms radiating from the said shaft, members arranged parallel to the V V axis of the body and rigidly secured to the radial arms, said agitating blades being secured to the members and projecting radially outwardly therefrom, each blade comprising a flat strip having a pointed outer end, each blade being twistedso that it presents an inclined surface to the direction of movement thereof through thematerial.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aflix our signatures. V I v.

' OTA T. GRAHAM.

OAKLEY J. GRAHAM. I 

